It Can't Be Real
by Kaitzee
Summary: A twisted story of love, jealousy, bitterness and hope. Thomas = James's DE brother Ian= Thomas's best bud Juan= Ian's bf. Enjoy!
1. Why The Sparrows!

**Title: **It Can't Be Real

**Slash: **James/Lily

**Rating: **PG-13-- Language and sexual situations.

**Genre: **Romance/General

**Summary: **The J/L sequel to "Even If I Said No?"

**Disclaimer: **Mesa no own Harry Potter. Mesa not Jar-Jar, mesa scary 13-year-old chick.

**Author's Note: **I know this won't get reviews because I'm not a good fic writer. And lots of people haven't read "Even If I Said No?". BUT... and this is a big **BUT**... you can understand without reading "Even If I Said No?", but I would be very, very much obliged if you did. ^_^ Well, anyway. It's one week after graduating from Hogwarts. It's a hot summer day, and our two young lovers, Lily and James (James and Lily, whichever you prefer) are in the middle of... oh, read the story and find out. O_o **R/R**, people!!!

****

~*~

CHAPTER ONE: Why The Sparrows?!

"Tyler! NO!"

The tot screamed with delight as he ran down the hallway and into the bathroom.

"C'mere Tyler, before I decide to rip..."

_CRASH!_

"Oh, mother of Bloody Mary, what did you break..."

James was chasing his baby cousin, Tyler, around the house. While changing the young tot's diaper, Tyler ran for it half naked, enjoying the reaction he got from James. Josie Potter, James's 34 year-old mother, agreed to watch Tyler as his mother and father were currently 'indisposed'. 

James had a terrycloth towel over his shoulder and was wearing jeans and a red T-shirt he had gotten as a gift from his girlfriend, Lily Potter. His jeans and shirt, however, were stained from what he and his mother had dubbed, "The Breakfast Nightmare Ritual". This morning, Tyler had pelted James with tapioca and mashed beets.

Tyler jumped in the bathtub, thinking that James would never find him there, laughing his little head off. James walked into the bathroom and saw that Tyler had destroyed the glass toothbrush holder. James groaned as he bent down, picked up the pieces of glass carefully and tossed them into the garbage can. 

As James was about to pick up the last shard, Tyler quickly grabbed it. Of course, never actually holding a glass flake before, Tyler had no idea it would cut his hand. The little boy screamed with pain and James yet again groaned. Blood flowed from Tyler's palm and James scooped him up.

Josie ran into the bathroom, white as a sheet. She looked from James to Tyler. "What in the blazes?! Why is Ty bleeding?"

"Mum, remind me never, ever to have kids." James said over another scream from Tyler, and took the terrycloth towel from his shoulder and pressed it on Tyler's hand. Josie gasped and flicked James in the head.

"That was a perfectly good towel, and now you've gotten blood on it!" Josie said, and to her surprise, James laughed. Josie picked up Tyler and kept the towel on his little hand. "Why are you laughing, or have I asked that too much in your seventeen years?"

"Imagine if you said that after I used that towel to stem bleeding from a shoulder that lost a limb." James said. Josie laughed along with him. Then she immediately stopped, smacked James upside the head and pursed her lips. Tyler wailed again, his chubby face tearstained.

"Not funny." Ms. Potter said, and turned around to walk to the next room, which was her room that she shared with Tyler. James shrugged, stood up and walked out of the bathroom and into the living room. 

In it were three couches and a love seat, with a pool table in the middle and an old fashioned jukebox. The walls matched the couches, and there were full bookshelves lining the walls. But James's favorite part of this room was the life-size painting of his father hanging above the fireplace. His father didn't quite look like his son, except his eyes and his head shape. In the painting, he was sitting down in a red oak and velvet chair and a oak wall behind him. Mr. Potter was wearing blood red robes and had dark brown hair and mustache. He was built and husky.

James walked up to the painting, which was sleeping. James tapped it gently, and Harold Potter snorted awake. His sky blue eyes looked into ones which his genes had passed on, and he smiled warmly. He saluted James.

"Top o' the morning to you, James." Harold said. James's mother and father were both Aurors, and were very military, and the reason no one called him Jim.

"Hey, Dad." James smiled and sat down in the loveseat, which faced the fireplace. "What's new?"

Harold snorted. "Ha ha, funny, son."

James grinned. 

"Anyway, James. Your mother had informed me that you finished school."

James nodded.

"And.. there's, ah, a special..." Harold cleared his throat. "A special lady in your life?"

James laughed. "Yeah. I have a girlfriend named Lily."

Harold's face turned red in embarrassment. For some reason, any mention of love discomfited him. He cleared his throat again. "Well, do you have a picture?"

James took out a picture of Lily from his back pocket and held it up close to his father. Harold grinned. "She's a lovely one, she is." James nodded furiously. Harold chuckled. "Well. She's, what, your... one hundredth, now is she?"

"One hundred sixteenth, Dad." James said sarcastically. Harold chuckled again.

"Well, handsome boy like you. I wouldn't be surprised."

James smiled as he put the picture of Lily pack into his pocket. He sighed and leaned back into the love seat. Harold looked him over and gasped.

"What are those ridiculous things you're wearing?!"

"Lily gave them to me. They're Muggle clothes."

"Ah, a Muggle-born, she is."

"Ta." James nodded. Again there was a thoughtful silence.

"Well, son." Harold said. "If I weren't stuck in this painting, I'd hug you."

James nodded solemnly. "I know, Dad."

Harold nodded small, and then said with a bemused expression, "What was that high-pitched scream I heard earlier?"

*

Outside of the Evans residence, Mr. and Mrs. Evans were saying good-bye to their eldest daughter, Petunia. Mr. Evans was beside himself, as Petunia meant half the world to him (Lily, the other half), and was repainting her room to the color Lily wanted it to be. Mrs. Evans was standing outside the door with Lily, saying good-bye.

"Good-bye, Sweetie," Mrs. Evans said tearfully. "Make a good wife now, and control your temper. If you need any money for college, please drop me a line, will you?"

"And, for God's sake, eat something." Lily muttered.

Petunia narrowed her eyes at Lily. "Excuse me, dear sister of mine?"

Lily smiled sarcastically. "And, for God's sake, make us proud."

Petunia rolled her eyes and turned to a red convertible that was Vernon's car. Vernon waved a friendly wave and they sped off. Lily sighed with relief to see Petunia finally gone. She never had to see her ugly, bony face again if she didn't want to. Elizabeth sighed and clutched the Kleenex she was holding.

"Lily, I'm sure on a deep level, you're going to miss her."

"No." Lily shrugged, and walked to the piano in the den, with was through a door to her left in the foyer. She sat down and began to play and sang a song from memory. Mrs. Evans sat next to Lily on the piano bench and watched her daughter play the ivories...

__

Making my way downtown   
Walking fast   
Faces pass and I'm homebound...   
Staring blankly ahead   
Just making my way,   
Making my way   
Through the crowd...

"Oh, I love that song," Mrs. Evans sighed. She patted Lily on the back and stood up. She flattened her apron and smiled weakly at her daughter. "I have to go start lunch, dear."

"Okay Mum." Lily said as her mother walked into the kitchen.

Yup, things were going to be a whole lot better around here without Petunia. Lily smiled at the piano. It was a glossy black, made by a foreign company, as it's brand name was written in a different language. Lily did most of her music writing on her piano instead of her guitar, because it was a bit easier to make up melodies. Mrs. Evans was very proud of Lily, even if it wasn't in the Muggle world, that she was pursuing her musical talents. 

Lily looked out the window, looking for Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn was a snowy female owl that James owned, and James promised Lily he'd invite her to Music Petals this afternoon in a letter. The weather was hot outside, and the sun was high in the sky. 'It must be noon.' Lily thought to herself, blocking the sun from her view with on hand while searching the skies. 'Just how far away does James live, anyway?'

Lily sighed heavily as she pulled down the cover on the keys. Now that school was out forever, she was bored. There was no summer school work she usually had. Petunia thought that any school who required school work to be done over vacation was a horrible school indeed. Lily told her that jealousy wouldn't do her any good, and to shut her mouth before she hexed it shut.

All of a sudden, Lily remembered. She could use magic now! "Mummy!" Lily stood up and jogged to the kitchen. Lily was wearing denim shorts and a simple purple tank top. Her hair was tied back into a neat bun. It was very hot, and the air conditioning was off, due to Petunia's college costs. A huge fan was blaring in every room.

Mrs. Evans looked up from the pot of homemade chicken noodle soup to her daughter, who was grinning happily. "What is my String Bean up to?"

Her green eyes flickered with joy as she pulled out a light yellow stick with a slightly darker handle, swishy, about ten and a quarter inches long, and from what Mr. Ollivander told her, great for charm work. Mrs. Evans's eyes gleamed.

"You're allowed to do magic outside of school, now, around you?" Elizabeth said. Lily nodded and looked hopefully at her mother. "No way, this is a sacred recipe and only to be done by hand."

"Damn." Lily said, her face falling. Then it sort of piped up again. "I'm going to go help Daddy!" Lily turned around and ran out into the living room and up the stairs, hearing her mother's faint request to be careful.

Mr. Evans was painting the walls a pale green, and everything was covered by newspaper. He was whistling sadly. He'd miss his daughter. When he heard a rustle of newspaper when Lily stepped on it, he looked up and smiled. The smell of fresh paint met Lily's nostrils.

"Hello, my String Bean." He said, climbing down from the ladder. Leonard spied her wand in her hand, and he got excited. "What to help?"

"Yes!" Lily said. She concentrated, and pointed her wand at Leonard's paintbrush that was resting on the ladder. It floated on the air, slowly hovered to the wall and started to paint the wall. Lily put down her wand and Leonard grinned as the paintbrush started to paint the walls on its own.

"Thank you, my String Bean. Um.. how do you get it down?"

"Oh, it'll stop when the walls are done." Lily assured her father. 'Or at least I _hope_ it will...'

Suddenly, Mrs. Evans called up the stairs, "Lily, sweetheart! James sent you another owl!"

Lily squealed like a little girl in a doll shop and ran down the stairs. Mrs. Evans was giving the owl a bowl of cold water to sip; it looked a bit dehydrated. Lily scratched its white head and untied the note from Gwendolyn's talon. She read to note out loud to her mother:

__

Hey Lil,

How about we go to Diagon Alley? Meet you there at 

Jooblie's Ice Cream Parlor. I'll buy you your favorite:

mint chocolate chip! Apparate as soon as you get this note.

Love you always, James Potter

"I'm guessing you won't be here for chicken noodle soup then, huh?" Smiled Mrs. Evans mischievously. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Love you too, Mum." Lily said. "Well, my guess is I'll be back around five o' clock."

"Alright. Have a great time, and bring back a ML with you. They're very interesting."

"Okay, bye." Lily said, making a mental note to get her mother a Music Leaf at Music Petals, a music store in Diagon Alley. Music Leaves were sort of like a CD, only it was as big as a leaf. They were usually shaped like oak leaves (with the strongest Unbreakable Spell on them), and had every button a CD player had, only it didn't have headphones. It just made music play in your head that only you can hear. It only plays a certain band, and were sort of expensive: 5 Galleons a piece.

Elizabeth sighed sadly as Lily Disapparated. "And another one puts the boyfriend first..."

*

James had just finished ordering their ice creams when he found Lily putting on lipgloss at a table. He laughed to himself, knowing that Lily was showing off, and sat down next to her with a fake bemused expression.

"Hello, miss. Can I help you?" James asked with a grin.

Lily smiled back. "Oh, thank you. You see, there's this extremely hot boy I'm looking for. Messy black hair, sky blue eyes, slightly immature..."

"Hm. I think I know where he is."

"Where?"

"Kissing you." James said, and planted a kiss on Lily's lips. Lily laughed and took her ice cream and spoon. James took his, the same flavor, and took a huge glob and stuffed it into his mouth. Lily stuck out her tongue.

"James, that's gross."

James shrugged and swallowed. "So? It's good."

"Yech." Lily said, and took a spoonful of her ice cream. James took the bit off her spoon and ate it before Lily could get it into her mouth. Lily shook he head with a smile. "James, you have your own!"

"Okay, okay. Don't get defensive." James said innocently as he took another of hers and popped the ice cream into his mouth. Lily looked at him, and he opened his mouth, showing her the half eaten ice cream. Again, Lily stuck out her tongue.

"Eww!" She said, and James laughed before swallowing. Lily rolled her eyes. "Jimmy, You are a doofus."

James puffed out his chest and spoke in a heroic voice. "Ah, but I am the All-Powerful, Supreme Doofus, the one that can beat any other doofus!"

Lily laughed and kissed his chin. "You certainly are."

James chuckled. "I told my dad about you. He said you were pretty."

Lily batted her eyelashes. "What can I say? It's a gift, it's a curse." James casually put his arm around her and took a bite of his ice cream. Lily swallowed and asked, "What does he do for a living?"

"Er, he's a painting." James said uneasily.

"Oh, I'm sorry, James." Lily said, understanding. "Who painted him?"

"Kaitlyn DeLair. She's good at that sort of thing, and we paid her ten Galleons. She's really nice." James shrugged. "It was hard for her to get his soul into it though."

"How's that done?" Lily asked. Half of her ice cream was gone by now.

"Well, there's a ritual type thingy where the family had to use all our wands to get his soul into the paint. Hard to explain."

Lily shrugged. "Good enough explanation for me." She looked at James's clothes. They looked a little worn. "Did you wash your new clothes already?"

"Tyler thought it would be fun to have a food fight. Like he does every morning at 6 AM." James said with a smile, and leaned in for another kiss. Lily put down her spoon and kissed back. James pulled away and clinked his spoon in the empty glass dish. "Done!"

"Sheesh, look at you, the Human Vacuum Cleaner." Lily said, raising an eyebrow.

"You forget. I'm the All-Powerful, Supreme Doofus. My alter ego is the Human Vacuum Cleaner."

They both laughed as they left seven sickles as a tip and headed into the middle of Diagon Alley, and made their way to Music Petals hand-in-hand. It was a Friday, do Diagon Alley was packed with people doing their shopping. When they finally got through the crowd and to Music Petals, Lily walked up to the door and tried to pull it open. It was locked.

"What?" Lily said, pulling on the door, trying to get it open. "It's closed...? But it's only one in the afternoon!"

James tried pulling on the door, too. It wouldn't budge.

"You won't get it open that way. Tis out of business." An old man's voice came out of the window beside the door. He was white-haired and balding, with blue hat and robes with a white apron. Lily smiled weakly at the man.

"Conway, why did you close up so early?" Lily asked. James raised an eyebrow. He wondered how may times Lily had come here, if she and the owner were on a first-name basis.

"My dear Lily, I'm sorry." Conway shook his head sadly. "We're going out of business."

Lily gasped. "Why??"

"Weren't selling anything, and we only had an average of three costumers a week, besides you." Conway smiled. "We've sold everything since Hogwarts let out for the summer. I don't know what dragged all 'em new youngster costumers in... the 99% off sale or the Music Bug bit 'em."

James cocked his head to the side. "Youngsters?"

Conway nodded. "All of 'em were about your age, I reckon."

Lily asked, "Has anyone put a bid on it?"

Conway pointed to the door, and there was a piece of paper with scribbling on it. "Some folks came along and did. A beauty salon, three restaurants and then a wand shop called Rutabaga's."

Looking at the white piece of paper, Lily and James saw that the highest bid so far was five hundred Galleons.

"Whoa." James nodded. "They must really want this place."

Lily thought for a minute. Then she turned to James with a mischievous smile. James looked curiously back at her, then came to realizing. He shook his head.

"No. We can't afford that! Are you crazy?"

"Yes. And, we can afford it." Lily said, and took out a quill from her bag.

"Wait a second!" James said, stepping between Lily and the piece of paper. "Does your family have a lot of Muggle money, or something? You know Muggle money isn't even worth a lot in our money. If you exchanged £100, you only get 10 Galleons!"

"So?" Lily said, and pointed to the shop across the street. James peered over at the window. There was a 'HELP WANTED' sign. James also saw that it was the Eeylops Owl Emporium. he turned back to Lily, who was putting on her puppy-dog-eyes act.

"No way. I imagined my summer job as a taste-tester at Jooblie's, not picking up owl poo."

Lily brought fake tears to her eyes. She looked positively pathetic.

James seemed to be relenting. "Lily... please stop that... no, I don't want to pick up after owls all summer... oh crap. Fine. Sign it before I change my mind..."

"Yay!" Lily kissed James on the cheek and put down a bid on the paper for 550 Galleons. James shook his head, and knew this was probably a big mistake.

*

"Your move." Ian said to Juan. Juan licked his lips as he moved his pawn. Ian shrugged and moved his queen. "Check."

"Damn." Juan moved his King out of the way. "Ian, what time is it?"

Ian checked on the clock behind him. As he did so, Juan quickly moved his knight to the other side of the board and safe from his king. "About 1:30 PM. Why?"

"I have to go to work in five minutes." Juan said truthfully. He stood up and went to the closet to pick up his briefcase. "I have to make sure we get a shipping of 30 new books in today."

"Right." Ian nodded and looked at the board. "Wait a minute..."

"I didn't move anything. I swear." Juan said with a grin, which Ian returned. Ian stood up and kissed Juan on the lips, and when it got passionate, Josie walked in. This didn't stop the two boys; they didn't seem to notice Josie's presence until the cleared her throat quite loudly.

"Your bedroom is the third door on the left." She said with a small smile, and the two boys looked up and blushed.

"Sorry, Ms. Potter." Juan said, and put his arm around Ian.

"Where are you going?" Ian asked. Josie was wearing light pink flannel robes and a matching sunhat. Josie showed Ian her purse and a shopping list.

"Grocery shopping. I forgot how fast food disappears when there's males in the house." Josie smiled and walked out of the front door.

"Can't you just Apparate?" Ian called.

"Nice day for a small walk!" Josie called back. "I'll Apparate on the next block." Ian and Juan waved good-bye as Josie's figure disappeared from view. Ian turned to Juan and kissed his cheek.

"Do you have to go to work?"

Juan itched his left wrist. "Uh... yeah, really bad."

"Damn, and when I finally had you all to myself." Ian smirked. Juan blushed and itched his wrist again. Ian spied it and frowned. "Is your broken wrist still bothering you?"

"It's that medicine I bought for it. It makes it itch." Juan said suspiciously. Ian's eyes narrowed.

"Well, okay." He pecked Juan on the lips. "See you at seven."

"Bye, love." Juan said, and Disapparated. Ian bit his lip.

"It's always his left wrist..."

*

****

((A/N- Wee hee! I finally found inspiration! Okay, it was at three in the morning, and I was suffering from a cold and couldn't sleep. All of a sudden, ideas just started to pop in my head... any I snuck downstairs and began to type. It's on okay-sized chapter, not a very long one... but, oh well. It's pretty good when you're about to die from fatigue, eh? Hmm... I'm not sure, but I want to base this on a song like I did with 'Even If I Said No?'... do you think I should? I guess it's my fault... I always write without an ending or plot in mind. It sort of just flows onto the screen. I guess it's sort of like I always say, "When the world gives you lemons, demand a refund." Actually that has nothing to do with it. Or maybe it does. Or maybe I need a lot of Tylenol Cold medicine. I have no idea why I named the chapter the name I did. Did that sentence even make sense? Where did I leave my socks? In my underwear drawer? Oh yeah, I need **lots** of Tylenol... Well, please review... otherwise I don't know if you want me to continue or not!! Last note... **A Thousand Miles belongs to the one and only Vanessa Carlton.))**

((See that box right there? See it? Isn't it pretty? I bet you wanna click it. Your pointer finger is just _screaming_, "CLICK THE REVIEW BUTTON!" So why dont'cha do that? Please R/R! Reviews make me wanna write a new chapter!**))**


	2. That Was Interesting

**Title: **It Can't Be Real

**Slash: **James/Lily

**Rating: **PG-13-- Language and sexual situations.

**Genre: **Romance/General

**Summary: **The J/L sequel to "Even If I Said No?"

**Disclaimer: **Like I always say, when you take credit for something you didn't do, you're lying. Actually, I don't always say that, but I'm not going to lie. I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does.

**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. **I can't even think straight. This cold thing is driving me crazy. I can't breathe, taste my older brother's cooking (which might be good and not bad, actually) and I'm coughing up stuff that's supposed to come out your nose (how's that for a lovely mental picture?)! But... since it's basically my whole world, besides my music and, well, the other stuff... I continue to write. ONWARD!

****

~*~

CHAPTER TWO: That Was... Interesting

__

In a little three-room shack somewhere near the equator, three people lived in a miserable disarray. It was extremely hot, and all the three men had were long robes and their underwear. Two had odd jobs, one was too depressed and scared to do much of anything. These three boys were Ian, Juan and Thomas.

Ian was just coming back from the supply store. It was a hot day in whatever country they were in... they didn't know which one for safety. Ian had dragged Thomas away from England when Thomas decided he wanted to come clean and not be Dark anymore... he'd finally realized the pain he had caused to the many people Voldemort destroyed. Voldemort had killed Diana, an oblivious Muggle who Thomas married three years before, and which had been killed under Voldemort's command.

"What about Lily?" Juan had asked. He sounded angry at Thomas when he said it. "She was better than Diana... you shouldn't have married a Muggle!" Juan had always had a curious disliking for Muggles, probably subconsciously, like any other pureblood family.

Ian was holding the grocery bag and climbing a big hill, the sun beating down on him like a lighted match on a candle wick. He wiped the sweat off his brow as he neared the top of the hill. He threw up before continuing; he was heavily dehydrated. When be looked up, his worst nightmare had come true... the Dark Mark hung over the little shack, like a neon sign...

"AHHHHH!" Ian shot up in his bed and screamed into the night. He breathed heavily, and he was in a cold sweat. He looked around the room. The only source of light was the moon shining in through the window. The body next him stirred.

"Ian?" Juan asked, and sat up with him. "Wassamatter? It's 2 AM."

"Uh... nightmare." Ian said, gulping the lump in his throat. The bad dream had brought back too many memories...

"Damn, again?" Juan said, and gently cradled Ian in his arms. "Shhh, Baby. It's alright. Let's go back to sleep."

A single tear fell from Ian's face as he nodded and closed his eyes. Being in Juan's arms gave him so much comfort, he couldn't argue. Ian was worried that the dream would come back, but he was too tired to care so much.

*

"5 more hours to go!" James said, after an hour of being on the job. Lily was lucky enough to land the cashier job, while James was unfortunate and got the occupation to pick up after the owls; clip their talons, file the tips of their beaks, clip their feathers, pick up their poop, feed them... all Lily watched with an amused expression.

"Jimmy, sweetheart, it's really not that bad." Lily said dully, sketching in her sketchbook. It was 6 AM, and no one in their right minds would be shopping for an owl at this hour. In fact, Lily's working hours were different than James's, being the cashier. She got up with James so he wouldn't be bored. James had to get up at 5:30 AM to pick up the store before costumers came... and for the hundreds of owls and only two other helpers, James hated his job with a fiery passion. But, he loved Lily with a fiery passion, so it was she who kept him going.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be this other girl to fancied James...

"Jamie..." Rhetta Campbell called in a sweet singsong voice, walking toward James with a spring in her step. In her arms she carried a basket with a magical fire going under it, one you could touch. James peered inside the basket, which had five owl eggs in it, before looking to Rhetta.

"Don't call me Jamie, my name is James." James told her firmly. Rhetta was tall, blonde, blue-eyed and earning money to travel to Paris to be a model. James swallowed as she winked at him before saying;

"Sorry, _James..._" She said, saying James's name in a purr that made James's palms sweat.

"Er... okay." James said. "What do you want me to do with the owl eggs?"

Rhetta gave the basket to James. "Mr. Eeylops wanted these in the Safe Incubator." She turned around to walk back to the broom closet, but on her way, her hand brushed against James's crotch, making him cough and walk away with haste. He walked over to Lily, putting the basket down, and smiled at her.

"Long day," he said huskily.

"We've only been here an hour, and you're sweating." Lily said, raising her eyebrows. 

"Uh... Gotta go to the Safe Incubator." James said, picked up the basket, and power-walked to the Safe Incubator. Lily's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Today was going to be a warm day, so Lily decided to wear Muggle clothes... a sky blue tank top and plain denim shorts. Her hair was under control, for once, in a neat ponytail. James was wearing Muggle clothes (under Lily's command). Simple shorts and electric green T-shirt.

Rhetta was the most low-rent person Lily had ever met. She sheep-eyed every male peer that came into the store, and wore outrageous robes that usually are seen in strip bars. Today was a flowered bikini top and a matching long skirt (other option to long robes). Lily didn't like this girl at all... and she seemed to be rather fond of James.

The little door-bell rang, indicating that a costumer came in the store. Lily looked up and saw that it was Toby Jenson, Lily's old boyfriend. She smiled and said, "Well, bless my soul! It's Toby Jenson himself!"

Toby bowed. "The one and only." He looked around. "I saw that mess of red hair and thought it might be you. Summer job?"

"Sort of... I'm buying and re-opening Music Petals."

"Music Petals, the music store that's gone out of business?" Toby asked with interest. "Big shame, isn't it? I never really noticed it until I saw your concert... I found my calling."

"What would that be?" Lily asked, closing her sketch book.

Toby leaned in. "The tambourine."

Lily broke out laughing. "The... the tambourine?"

Toby smiled. "I thought so too. But I just beat that thing against my hip, and I feel alive."

They both laughed.

"Well, it's refreshing to see a friendly face." Toby said.

"Oh... your older brother still working to outshine you?"

"My father... what's with him and secondary school? You know, if I wanted to be educated more, I'd retake all of Hogwarts, but not secondary school."

"Secondary school?"

"Sort of like Muggle College." Toby shrugged. "Father says he wants to send me to the very one Dumbledore was sent to... Pigpimples Secondary School of Witchcraft and Wizardry... but I refused." ((A/N- Catchy title for a college, huh?))

Lily shrugged. "It could be worse, having to listen to your boyfriend gripe about picking up owl poo for six hours."

Toby tilted his head to one side. "Boyfriend?"

"Promise not to laugh?"

"Sure."

"James Potter."

Toby grinned. "James Potter? _The _James H. Potter? The fourth Marauder, eh? A popular kid, eh? Well, well... impressive."

"You sound Canadian." Lily shook her head.

"That might be because I _am_ Canadian..."

*

"Well! Glad to see you, Prongs." Remus said.

"You know... working my ass off for no apparent reason." James said, then taking a swig of butterbeer. The Hog's Head seemed a little more teen-friendly than the Three Broomsticks. It had a couple pool tables, which the Marauders loved, and their peers gathered here more often than any other age group. First years to the retired went to the Three Broomsticks, and the scene seemed more crowded. Yeah, the Hog's Head fitted their needs better. Plus, Hagrid visited sometimes.

"14 striped into the corner-pocket." Peter said, and hit the ball square into the left corner. Remus gave him a high five. Then Sirius went next.

"Well," He said, "it's great to see your face, finally. We can play pool properly again, and Peter doesn't have to play for two teams anymore."

"You're just mad because I'm better at pool you are," Peter said with a shrug.

"That maybe so, but what I lack in pool-playing ability, I can beat you at Quidditch anytime." Sirius said, and tried to hit a solid 4 ball into a center pocket but missed. "Anyway."

"So, how's Poe?" James asked.

"Broke up. She's found better soil at secondary school." Sirius said bitterly.

"Sorry, mate." James said sympathetically. Then, to annoy Sirius, he added, "Well, me and Lil couldn't be better."

"Duh. You're obviously soul mates." Remus said, and hit the 10 ball into a pocket. "Anyway, Magenta and I broke up too, right after getting off the train from Hogwarts. We decided we weren't meant for each other."

"She found a bigger man, didn't she?" James said, raising his eyebrows.

"Oooh, yeah." Remus shook his head. "Your turn, James."

James his and successfully suck the solid 11 ball. "Well, there's Arabella Figg... you have sort of fancied her for a while..."

"Say no more." Remus said, looking ahead. Standing not too far away was Arabella Figg, with her short light brown hair and hazel eyes. Remus casually walked over to her, the other Marauders watching intently.

"Hey, Bella." Remus said, making sure his ponytail was tight.

Arabella turned from her conversation with another girl and saw Remus.

"What's new?" Remus asked.

Arabella only smiled.

"Uh... are you thirsty? Can I get you a drink?"

Arabella shook her head, and her smile got a little broader.

"Hungry? Want me to order you some lunch?"

Arabella shook her head and her smile turned into a grin.

"Well... what do you want?"

Arabella leaned forward and slipped her tongue down Remus's throat.

"Omigawd!" Peter shrieked and the other three Marauders broke out laughing. They found it extremely amusing that Remus wasn't prowling, and that Arabella (quiet, humble) was.

Arabella let go from the kiss gently and Remus fell to the floor.

"Nice to see you again, Rem." Arabella said with a smile.

"Lovely to make your acquaintance," Remus said huskily, looking up at her as if she were a goddess. As Remus stood up and dusted himself off, the girl Arabella had been talking to was in a fit of giggles. Remus kissed Arabella's cheek. "Want to date?"

"Sure." Arabella shrugged.

"Where?"

"Here."

"When?"

"8 o' clock."

"Should I bring 'equipment'?"

"By all means."

"Well, see you later, Bella."

"Bye, Rem."

Remus dazedly made his way back to the pool table. The Marauders were biting their fists in order to stop laughing, Sirius and James in particular.

"Well... that well, didn't?'

"Oh, yes, quite." James said, and laughed.

"What did you mean by 'equipment'?" Peter asked.

"Condom." Remus said casually, albeit with a huge grin on his face. Sirius and James exchanged amused expressions. Peter shrugged and took his turn, missing the left side pocket and sinking the Q-ball.

Sirius nodded. "Well. That was... interesting."

*

The birds outside chirped softly, letting James subtly know it was dawn. James opened one tired eye and glanced at the clock. It was 6 AM, and he was going to be late for work. He groaned and poked the shoulder of Lily, who was sleeping on top of him. Lily looked up into James's eyes, who pointed to the clock. Lily's turn to groan, and she rolled off of James and sat up.

"James, last night was bliss, and you forget to set your alarm." Lily said, rubbing her eye.

James mumbled something indistinct, but Lily knew he was probably saying something his defense. Lily got out of bed and walked over to James. She planted a kiss on his cheek and smiled.

"Love you."

James smiled meekly and muttered, "Ditto." James wasn't a morning person.

"Go ahead and Apparate over to Eeylops, I'll be there in about an hour. I'm going to take a shower, alright?"

James garbled as he put on his underwear and other clothing items. Lily nodded and walked toward the bathroom. Before she walked in, she yelled down the stairs, "Mum, I'll be getting breakfast in Diagon Alley!"

"Right!" Called back Elizabeth, who was probably fixed Leonard breakfast before he shuffled off to work (an office job down at the city-wide newspaper).

James mumbled and walked over Lily and kissed her before he Disapparated.

*

"Morning, Jamie." Rhetta winked as James stumbled over to the time-card puncher, punched in his card and walked over to the Safe Incubator.

"'Lo," He managed to say. He checked the eggs due to hatch, and nothing was happening.

"What's new?" Said Rhetta sweetly.

"Nothing much." James said, and then made his way to the coffee maker, which was fresh out of coffee.

"You can have the rest of mine." Rhetta spoke, holding up the white china coffee mug. James half glanced at it, unsure why she was giving him coffee when the whole entire human population needed coffee to stay awake at this hour.

"Mmkay." James mumbled and walked over to Rhetta. She handed him the mug and he drank deeply. When he stopped, the whole world seemed... red. James, still being half asleep, thought that this was pretty cool. Then he realized (when the coffee kicked in a second later) that the world wasn't supposed to be one color. He shook his head, then the world went back to being normal colored.

Then, James looked at Rhetta, about to make her tell him what the hell she did to his coffee. For some reason, his heart melted when he looked at her. Her smile was beautiful, her face was perfect, her haystack hair... James felt in love, sort of what he felt around Lily.

"Uh, thanks." James said, bemused. Rhetta's face seemed to fall.

_'Why didn't it work?'_ She thought.

James gasped. "Don't be sad, my lovely! What do you want- anything I can get you? Jooblie's is not too far away from here..."

"No, no... I'm fine!" Rhetta instantly smiled. James felt his heart pound when she smiled.

'_What the hell?'_ James said, part of his mind still sane. _'Why am I... oh dear lord, I'm in love with Rhetta Campbell!'_ Rhetta was just standing there, smiling at him. 

Then James did what everyone thought was the impossible; he leaned over and kissed Rhetta (who, I might add, was in complete ecstasy).

From the doorway, holding three breakfast rolls he had bought for James, himself and Lily, was Toby. He witnessed this horrible scene, and almost dropped the food. Instead he slowly and soundlessly backed away, and was very confused as he made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron. Toby wasn't an expert at this sort of thing, and didn't know if he should keep what he saw as a secret... or tell Lily.

*


End file.
